Sermons From The Mount

‘BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY’

2010-09-12T21:00:00.000+09:30

SERMON
PENTACOST 16
12TH SEPTEMBER 2010
TEXT: LUKE 15: 1-10
‘BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY’
IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE

Today is ‘Back to Church Sunday’.

Back to church Sunday began in the UK with the first one in Greater Manchester in 2004.

160 churches united around one ‘missing you’ message on a Sunday in September.

Back to Church Sunday was launched in Australia in 2009.

600 churches across 19 Anglican dioceses took part. On that day 12,000 people returned to church at the invitation of a friend.

What an appropriate story we have read today in Luke’s gospel - we can mostly relate to the two circumstances that are told.

We need not be farmers to appreciate the value of the lost sheep – especially given the prices commanded at present for lamb! Some of my family own a grazing property in Western Victoria and have just completed lambing for this year. In the midst of lambing they experienced an intense storm with much rain and freezing cold winds – the worst conditions they have had for many years. As a result they lost more than one third of their new born lambs.

That is a great financial loss as well as being very upsetting at the loss of life. My niece spent many hours out in the paddocks in bleak conditions trying desperately to save as many as possible – she suffered badly from the cold and has been mildly sick with chill and a cold since.

When I read this story I couldn’t help thinking of her and others like her who tried desperately to save their flock from the elements.

But I also read this story from Luke as being more about the nature of God, rather than anything to do with the nature of humanity. The element of the shepherd celebrating the return of the lost sheep surely demonstrates the value God has for each of us – and it’s not that God is concerned about financial loss- the focus here is right on God's very nature.
Dare we even consider for a moment that the Spirit of creation of the whole universe can be personally experienced by us mere mortals?

It sounds preposterous, doesn’t it? If you are a thinking person it doesn’t seem to make sense – it’s some human invention.

Well, God is not some old man with a long white beard somewhere up in the sky – that’s an out dated and ridiculous concept.

It’s because many people still think of God in those very terms – and sadly many churches do nothing to alter their view – that a lot of people have given church away.

I’ve got news for you! It’s not like that here. We here at St John’s have an entirely different understanding of God. God is a spirit – THE Spirit of creation – of life itself – and most importantly to humanity – of LOVE. God is also not some sort of heavenly puppeteer – controlling and interfering in our daily lives. God can never be known – nor spoken for – humanity cannot put words into God’s mouth. The unfathomable mystery of God can only be experienced – not rationalized. And the way God can be experienced is through the experiences of those who knew Jesus some two thousand years ago. It is in and through the life of Jesus of Nazareth that we glimpse something of the nature of God.

Here in this story we catch a glimpse of a God whose very nature is love. How can people say they know God when they deliberately exclude others? This story clearly shows us that God is inclusive of all – even those ‘lost’ in the depths of depression, crime, drugs and mental illness. This story clearly tells us that God will continue to search us out until we are found – that is until we respond to God’s love.

This story is also not only about those who are, as it were, outside the fold- who don’t give thought to the possibilities that God can bring to their lives – but also to those who are “in the house” – like the lost coin. The coin was lost ‘in the house’ not outside. So there is something to seriously consider for all of us here today – whether we see ourselves inside God’s house as with the coin – or outside it like the lost sheep.

There is a story told of a police officer who stopped a young bloke with a dozen GPS units in his backpack - stolen, of course. When relating the story the officer wanted to make the point that people should be aware of keeping valuables in the car, "hide it, lock it, keep it" was his message. But a clergyman who was present said, "All those GPS units- and the kid was still lost!"

Most of us today are not in the sheep business. But we do have plenty of lost kids, all around us. If we could think of them not as pains-in-the-proverbial backside, but as souls worthy of being sought, then we would be walking in the footsteps of Christ. But it’s not limited to those at the bottom of the heap as it were. This applies to all of us in this church this morning – good law-abiding citizens as we all are.

So, a very warm welcome to those visiting – I hope you might have glimpsed something of the nature of God by being here. These stories are also a thought provoking message for those of us already in this community – Let’s give God a hand in the search both for the sheep outside and also the coin somewhere under the bed or behind the fridge!

THE LORD BE WITH YOU.

PENTECOST 7

2010-07-13T15:36:00.001+09:30

Sermon

11^th July 2010 - PENTECOST 7

Text Luke 10: 25 – 37

In the name of God- Creator, Pain-bearer and Spirit of Life and love

On Wednesday evening of last week I went with friends to the Stirling Parish’s annual ‘Winter Feast’ at a restaurant in the city. Denis dropped the ladies off at the restaurant and he and I went searching for a car park – I hate going to the city – it is always crowded and noisy and finding a car park that doesn’t cost a fortune is virtually impossible. However after some adept ‘alley driving’ we found a park and started our walk to the restaurant.

When we came to the corner of one of the main streets we noticed a man lying out in the road – actually in the traffic lane. We immediately went over to him and after finding him sort of conscious lifted him and took him back to the foot path where we propped him up in a door way. He was able to tell us his name and that he was from Perth – also that he had ‘had a few drinks’. He had given it up, he said, but started again after his mother died. I phoned the police and they sent an ambulance to pick him up and help him out of his predicament – also a police patrol car turned up to check on him. Whilst we were waiting a local resident came along to take his rubbish bin inside and after a glance to see what was going on outside his apartment simply ignored us all and went inside.

After we saw our sad drunk safely into the hands of the Ambos Denis and I walked on to the restaurant – everyone thought we had needed to park in Port Adelaide due to the time we had taken in reaching the dinner. It was good to have been able to help though. Had we not come along there is little doubt that a vehicle would have hit the man, lying as he was in the road in such a dark area of the city. We didn’t know him and had never seen him before but he was our ‘neighbour’ in the real sense of today’s Gospel story and we could do nothing less than help him. I might be wrong but it seemed to me that the local resident would not have touched him – he might have phoned for the police - but who knows? I didn’t think of this parable at the time but when thinking over the text for today I thought how well it fits the events of last week.

This story in Luke is probably a reworking of the one found in Mark 12 where a scribe (another ‘expert in the law’) asks Jesus a similar question. Also remember Mark 10 where Jesus is visited by the rich man who seeks to find his way into the kingdom of God? “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” is also asked in Luke 18. It’s the big question! This same question seems to be often put to Jesus in these Gospels. ‘Inherit’ seems to indicate a bequest – remember that an inheritance is something that is bequeathed – unearned – a gift if you like – here it’s something that God wants us to have. So there is an ironic twist to the question “What can I do to inherit…”? The simple answer is you can do nothing - nothing except LOVE! That’s the short answer. The story of the Good Samaritan is told not to point out the man’s generosity or his superior position over a man down and out – but to point out his LOVE for the victim – his neighbour.

Another thing – ‘Eternal Life’ – what are we talking about here? There is an expectation of everlasting life inherent in these Jewish writings but the emphasis would seem to be on quality of life rather than quantity. Everlasting? Who knows and frankly I don’t really care. I see this as Jesus coming to show humanity what it is to live life in an extraordinary way – to live life ‘on the edge’ as it were – to live life to its absolute fullest and most satisfying. It is living our human lives within the all encompassing and all pervading life of God – and being aware of that Presence within us – closer than our very breathing. It is simply living our lives with the single most important goal – to love God and to love our neighbour. That’s the simple message in this story which clearly defines our neighbour as the whole of humanity – but further than that even – the whole of creation – the earth – other animals – the whole cosmos and its contents. For if we truly love the creating spirit that we call God the rest MUST follow!

What a sharp and clear picture the writer of Luke’s Gospel draws. There is little left to the imagination – and what irony in the Levite passing by. The theme for this story comes from the Hebrew Torah – the sacred law of the Jews – from the book of Leviticus no less (the Greek word Leviticus translates as "relating to the Levites") - where God orders the people to ‘love your neighbour’.

This is God speaking to his people and laying down the law! And here we have a Jew lying wounded and naked in the middle of the road whilst another Jew of high rank – religiously and politically speaking – goes out of his way to avoid him and any involvement. A total violation of the Torah!

The same applies to the priest. He would have known the law – he simply ignored it – he ignored God’s law and the practised traditions of generations of his people. And here we have the Samaritan – the lowest of the low in Jewish eyes - coming along and showing mercy to his enemy the Jew – he was putting into practice what the two Jewish community leaders ignored – he showed mercy and in that mercy - love - to who was surely his neighbour in the true sense of the word.

You can hear the other two say, “Love your neighbour if he’s a Samaritan? You must be kidding God!”

The Jews and the Samaritans hated and despised each other – portraying a Samaritan in positive light would have come as a shock to Luke’s audience. It is typical of his portrayal of Jesus - provocative speech in which the conventional expectations of his hearers are turned upside down. Luke’s Jesus is being typically subversive in having a despised Samaritan play the goody role. Don’t you just love subversion? It brings out the radical in us all. If you like being radical and subversive become a practising Christian. Luke uses this subversive theology in order to answer the question: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ What are the limits? Do I include only the people of my community? Might this also include undesirables? Does it include women, people with disabilities, lepers and others so frequently excluded? Ultimately it becomes a theological question: whom does God love? The answer is made obvious in this story – everyone – regardless.

There are really two commandments here – Love God and Love the neighbour. Can we see that the priest and the Levite in this story probably loved God? They were part of a complex temple structure of hierarchy and were possibly just the victims of their human made system. How often have we seen ‘the system’ divert people from the real task – that of not just loving God but also loving all around. We see Bishops and priests become ineffective in the real needs of ministry because they stop at owning the first commandment only.

It’s interesting to see the generosity of the Samaritan man as well. He not only stops to help but takes the victim to a hotel and pays for his accommodation – no ambos and hospital emergency wards then! It seems a bit like early Australia really – the pub was the centre of community life and served all sorts of needs from food and drink and accommodation for the traveller to meeting place and church – even as in this case – hospital.

The man left the inn-keeper with two dinarii. A denarius is a silver Roman coin and represented one day’s wage for a labourer in the fields. It’s virtually impossible to bring that into today’s value but I reckon if we take the equivalent of a day’s wage for the same person today (about $140) and note the cost of a night in an average hotel (about the same) – it would appear that something like the equivalent of $280 - $300 was handed over. Who here today would be prepared to put their hand in their pocket for that much in order to help a person they: (A) did not know and (B) who was of a different and despised cultural group?

I think times have perhaps changed a bit in our society during the last couple of decades but a few years ago I could have easily cast the characters in this story as:

(A) The priest - an Anglican priest / Bishop in all the finery of the office.

(B) The Levite - a government politician – the local member – perhaps the Honourable The Minister for Social Welfare – in well tailored suit and tie.

There could well be another character walking along this road - the ordinary everyday person in the street – that’s us – you and me! Where do I fit in? How would I react? Would I stop and help or – not wish to become involved for any number of perfectly good and sane reasons? That puts a different light on it for us, doesn’t it?

The Stirling parish has decided to support in practical terms the ministry of Grant Hay amongst his people at Point Pearce – much is being done and loads of helpful and needed goods have been taken over there. There’s love in action!

Can we think about what we as a church could do to put love into practice?

Retired Anglican Bishop of Newark in the USA, Bishop Jack Spong has said ‘Love wastefully’.

It seems that however much love we ‘waste’ – more seems to come – it’s a miracle!! Let’s try it and see what happens! THE LORD BE WITH YOU

Pentecost 2

2010-06-06T06:31:00.006+09:30

Sermon: Pentecost 2

Sunday 6^th June 2010

Text: Luke 7;11-17

In the name of God: Creator, Pain-bearer and Spirit of Life and Love

Country communities are very different from the city. People are not forced together as in urbanised areas. There is an entirely different feel when living in a country town or rural area as opposed to being in the midst of perhaps 4 to 5 million people such as Melbourne or Sydney. Lives are more closely intertwined. People may not live in such close physical proximity as in a big city but have a closer involvement in each others lives.

My experience has been, and my opinion remains, that people care more about each other in smaller communities. When a death occurs it affects the whole community. Death in a large city is a much more private affair. I recall when one often saw a long procession of cars, headlights on in the middle of the day, driving slower than normal traffic speed, on its way to the cemetery. People would pull over to the side of the road with respect for the deceased, even though their identity was unknown, to allow the funeral cortege to proceed unhindered. Once, whilst visiting Broken Hill we observed such a funeral procession and it was not only the traffic that stopped, the pedestrians also stopped in their tracks and removed their hats until the hearse had passed by. It all sounds very quaint now, doesn’t it? Try taking such a funeral procession through a large city today and it would probably be subjected to horn blowing and abuse for disrupting traffic and delaying people in their mad rush to get somewhere.

The funeral procession we read about in today’s Gospel is nothing like that. The story is unique to Luke. The story takes place in a small Galilean town – it’s in the country. Here is the place where people care and turn out to support those bereaved. Nothing much has changed in that respect; ancient country Israel or 21^st century country Australia.

This small and otherwise insignificant town has its only claim to fame in this story in Luke’s gospel – it is mentioned nowhere else in the bible. It could almost be like a town in our own Adelaide Hills – sitting in the shadow of Mount Lofty.

Mt Tabor near Nain is about the same height as our own hill. Nain means a pleasant place, beauty, and green pasture. It sounds pleasant and a good place to live. But like all places where people live pleasant or unpleasant, the bad and sad events of life still overtake us.

Here in Luke’s story the only son of a widow has died. “That’s sad,” you say “a tragedy – I do feel sorry for her”. But in those days it meant much more than that!

Here there is no superannuation; no widow’s pension; no social security. After her husband’s death her sole means of income and survival rested with the efforts of her only son. Now he has died – she is totally bereft, alone and without any source of income or support. It’s more than sad – it’s more than your average tragedy – it’s a total disaster for her! What is she to do?

Well, practicality says she must first give her son a proper burial – money or no money. It’s a good thing she didn’t live in our time when she would have had to find about $10,000 for a ‘decent funeral’.

This widow represents one of the ‘unseen’ people within our own present day community – those sleeping rough around the city and parklands – those without enough warm clothing or blankets in this time of winter. Notice that Jesus sees her (verse 13). He sees the invisible person – the unseen.

I have this last week been sorting through my vast array of worldly goods. I have come to the conclusion that I, like many of us here today, have far too much. I sorted out what I would need (probably more than) and took the rest including blankets and general linen down to The Magdalene Mission in Carrington street. They were most grateful and said there is a desperate need for blankets and such items at present. And I was just going to push the things into already full cupboards? I felt ashamed that I had even considered such a thing.

I suggest that we all go home and have a serious look at what we can offer.

In this story we also read that when Jesus saw the grieving widow “he had compassion on her” (v13). He saw, not just the immediate grieving at death but the untenable future situation she was facing. How often do we think beyond the obvious at times like these – for we have all experienced such events either in our own lives or in the lives of those we know? Who knows what may lie behind the immediate grief of a bereaved person? Does our compassion extend simply to the handshake and the mumbled ‘sorry for your loss’- or does it go far beyond that to touch and address the deeper needs?

Someone has written “A procession of daily death exits every city [but] a parade of compassion meets it.” People do care! And contrary to popular belief God cares.

Wesley White has written this poem about compassion.

compassion flows
like a gentle river
with the power of a flood
through a marching band in step
in random clown's feet

compassion flows
to counteract pain's presence
loss's agony
with a song for the heart
and a hope reborn

compassion flows
with an invitation
to risk joining
leaving expectations
behind

compassion flows
toward emptiness
touching what is not there
revealing
restoring

When the two groups (Jesus and his crowd of followers – not just the 12 and the crowd of locals following the funeral) meet at the city gate, we hear that "The Lord" is moved with compassion.

Sarah Henrich, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN writes:
This is the first time that Luke has used the word "Lord" in relation to Jesus. He is at his most "lordly" as one who shows mercy. This is a very powerful message indeed. Compassion describes the reaction of the Samaritan in Luke 10:33 and the father in 15:20 (the Prodigal son parable).

Both of these parables are unique to Luke, suggesting the high importance of compassion and mercy as qualities of the Lord and of his disciples. Notice that this story does not turn on the presence or absence of faith. Jesus sees, is moved to compassion and acts, not allowing even death to stop him. How does such a Lord lead us? “

Now that’s a very good question. Does he touch us? Does he lead us to have compassion?

Luke portrays Jesus as a manifestation of the ancient God of Israel – here he is – ‘The Lord’ as the word is used in the Old Testament. His power is without limit in Luke’s writing, it even extends to conquer death – surely a power that only God alone may possess? He raises the widow’s son.

We cannot miss the strength of the crowd’s reaction in Luke’s powerful writing. First, they were afraid – an echo of the Old Testament awe of Yahweh perhaps – then saying that “God has visited His people” (V16). Here Luke puts God in their very midst.

We can ask ourselves how can we ‘see God’ today? Well, it’s often in the presence of people such as the ‘invisible and unseen’ in our communities – people like the grieving widow of Nain.

How about a bit of practical Christianity? It’s so easy to sit comfortably in our usual pew in ‘our’ church week by week – to comfort ourselves by partaking of the Eucharist and immersing ourselves in the familiar and beautiful ancient liturgy – then to refresh ourselves with tea and cake before wending our happy way home to a Sunday roast dinner and a quiet winter afternoon by the fire. It’s just so easy isn’t it?
But if we think about it too much we suddenly don’t feel so comfortable.

I challenge you to, like Jesus, reach out and figuratively take the hand of the dead son. God can be in us just as in that ancient story. It’s an uncomfortable thought to many. We can think about giving a few dollars a week to help starving children in stricken countries – we can sort through our cupboards and offer warm blankets or clothing to the Magdalene centre or Anglicare or some other organisation.

Could it even be said of us that through our compassion – our actions and our charity that “God has visited his people”?

The Lord be with you.

Sermon - Pentecost Sunday

2010-05-23T13:49:00.003+09:30

Sermon, 23^rd May 2010

Pentecost Sunday

Text: John 14: 8-17

In the name of God: Creator, Pain-bearer and Spirit of Love and life.

There’s a programme at 9.30 in the evening on ABC television called Q and A – Questions and Answers. It is a programme where a panel of about four people field questions from audience members. My cynicism asks whether these questions are really always ‘off the cuff’ or pre-arranged – but that’s not the point to discuss this morning. Often the panel contains politicians, mainly from the Federal parliament. If you ever want to find out how to not answer a question but at the same time speak authoritatively for some minutes this is the programme for you!

In this morning’s Gospel reading we have a portion of the script for a Q & A programme. The opening scene is played out in the previous chapter beginning at verse 36 of chapter 13 when Simon Peter is reported to be asking Jesus where here is going and what the heck he means when he talks to them in the way he has been.

Jesus has just delivered what is most definitely a farewell speech – in terms that would raise not just questions but alarm and fear in his disciples. These are men who are portrayed as having no clue as to Jesus’ real identity or purpose. They are shown, in short, as being thick as two short planks!

Of course Jesus’ answers that the Gospel writer has given don’t help either.

In Chapter 13 verse 37 Jesus answers a straight question “Where are you going?” with an extremely vague and non committal reply. He says, “Where I am going you can’t follow me now, but you will follow me later”. What sort of an answer is that? Ambiguous to say the least!

After Jesus reply to a further question by Peter where he also foretells that Peter will publicly deny him, it’s Thomas’s turn to ask another seemingly natural question. “How can we know the way if we don’t know where you are going?”

Here Jesus responds with the well known words, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.”

So we reach the question posed by Philip and which forms today’s reading. He says, “OK Jesus, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Come on, come clean, where is this Father you keep talking about?

The Gospel writer then has Jesus respond by telling Philip that he is looking at the Father - Yahweh – the ancient God of the Israelite peoples and who brought them out of Egypt and who is in Jesus and Jesus is in Him.

Now that’s a revelation!

Jesus then speaks of love – ‘If you love me’, he says, ‘you will keep my commandments’, and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another counsellor, to be with you forever’.

Now that’s a promise!

So just who is this ‘counsellor?’ ‘The spirit of truth’, says Jesus. It’s a pretty exclusive offer as well because this spirit of truth is not available to just anyone. ‘The world’, Jesus says, ‘cannot receive’ this spirit. Why can’t world receive this spirit of truth? Well, it’s not because God is not available or because God holds back or because God denies the general population access to the spirit. Not at all, it is because the people of the world don’t see God as the disciples are now seeing God in Jesus. They can’t see God and therefore can’t know God or God’s spirit.

So the next question comes from the audience. ‘Why can’t ‘they’ see God, and just what is meant by ‘the world’ anyway?

‘The world’ refers not to the earth but to the general everyday bloke and girl in the street and the reason they can’t see God is because they don’t stop and look – it’s that simple!

In order to receive a gift you need to first be in contact with the giver. A gift is not something that we can earn – not something that comes as a result of our efforts.

This spirit is nothing less than a gift from God.

The disciples of the story in Acts were not engaged in any work that would earn them God’s love in the form of the spirit. They were sitting in a closed room wondering what the heck to do next. They were just waiting - much like Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot. But unlike the play where Godot never arrives - that’s when God comes. Not when we are labouring and searching but in the quiet time when we just wait.

I have just read a little book by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, entitled Silence and Honey Cakes. It’s about the ancient ascetics of the fourth and fifth centuries who lived in the Egyptian desert where they had gone to escape from the rat race of the cities of their time. They mostly sought to find God in silence and contemplation. Most did. They sought God – took time out to wait for the spirit that Jesus had promised. Their pearls of wisdom that have come down to us indicate that their quest was not in vain.

The other reading set for today is from Paul’s letter to the churches at Rome. This writing predates the gospel by many years but the language is similar. Paul reiterates that spirituality (which infers a state of peace and wholeness in one’s life) is not something that we generate ourselves.

Paul speaks of receiving the spirit rather than congratulating them on having achieved spirituality. He also infers that this is not something that is born in us; rather it is something that comes from outside our own selves. It is not, if you like some sort of inherited personality trait.

There two other things that need to be said.

First, we mustn’t get the idea that once having received the gift of God’s spirit we need do nothing more – it doesn’t mean that we can now sit under a tree and contemplate our navel – far from it. The old adage ‘Use it or lose it’ springs to mind.

God’s spirit is the sort of Gift you can’t just unwrap, admire, and thinking it’s far too delicate and valuable to be used, carefully store it away in a bottom drawer in case something dreadful happens to it. The trouble is that, having done that, you tend to forget it’s there and your family will find it when they empty out your house after the funeral.

No, the gift is given so that we might pass it on to others. It now becomes our gift to give – to our loved ones, our family and friends, also our community. Here the concept of the neighbour comes into play.

Anthony the Great, one of the desert ascetics, said, “Our life and death is with our neighbour. If we win our brother we win God. If we cause our brother to stumble, we have sinned against Christ.” There’s food for thought - and a mighty challenge! We win our brother (or sister) through the gift of God’s spirit.

The other thing that needs to be said is that having received the spirit of God we don’t magically become immune from the troubles and trials of the natural human life – far from it! To quote Professor Mary Shore again, the spirit of God is …”a gift that does not exempt believers [ from trials and difficulties] but plunges them right back into the world's sufferings and pains, [but] empowered and confident in the future God is bringing about.”

Another thing - did you hear what Jesus said in verse 14? ‘If you ask anything in my name, I will do it’. There lies a potential study on prayer.

Andrew H. Wakefield in "What Happens When We Pray," (2007) suggests that the parent/child relationship offers an analogy for what Jesus is promising here. He writes:

If we extend the analogy just a little, we may be able to think of these promises as the same sort of hyperbole that parents use when they tell a child, "I would do anything for you!" The child may say, "Really? Then I want a tattoo; I want a pet elephant; I want a Ferrari!" The child has missed the point. The hyperbole shows the parent's infinite love for the child, a love that will seek the good of the child even above the parent's own good.... The hyperbole is a way of expressing the intimate relationship between loving parent and child—and that relationship is not simply about giving and receiving.

So how do we react when prayer apparently goes unanswered? Has the spirit of God that we have been promised and experienced as the disciples at Pentecost did, left – and, as in Don McLean’s song ‘taken the last train for the coast’?

Do we blame ourselves in that we don’t know how to pray properly? There’s no one way to pray – but a multitude of ways – don’t limit God. The promise made here is not a matter of ‘you can have anything you want’.

Remember the terminology used here – it’s the parent / child relationship we see. Carry that on and Jesus is giving an assurance that God will not desert us in our hour of need – we will not be thrown out into the snow to fend for ourselves.

He is saying that no matter what happens to us, no matter what tragedy strikes, no matter how low and desolate we feel, Jesus, in the spirit of God will be with us and we will know God’s everlasting love and presence – closer than our very breath. That’s a solemn and serious promise and that’s what Pentecost can mean to us today.

The Lord be with you.

Easter 7

2010-05-16T10:30:00.003+09:30

Sermon, 16^th May 2010

Easter 7

Text: John 17: 20 – 26.

In the name of God – Creator, Pain-bearer and Spirit of Life and Love.

I sometimes wonder what the author of John’s Gospel would think if he heard some of the interpretations of his writings as presented in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. I imagine he would be amazed to think that his writing was still being read, studied and discussed some nineteen hundred years after his time.

It’s fair, I think, to adopt a something of a midrashic interpretation of these writings.

Midrash is a Jewish method of interpretation which conveys many layers inherent in a text. So we can believe, if we wish, that Jesus actually spoke these words and their meaning is plain. I for one find that an impossible ask. There is no doubt that these are not the actual words of Jesus as ostensibly recorded here. Preservation of speech and text was not as easy as it is today. We take for granted audio and video recording whereby a person’s speech can be recorded and stored to be replayed at some time in the future. The video camera even preserves the nuances of expression that aid immensely in interpreting the speaker’s meaning and intent. In John’s day no such devices existed and it was only through the skills of the oral traditions that particular sayings were preserved.

John wrote about the turn of the first century CE – some sixty or seventy years after Jesus’ crucifixion – at least one - maybe two generations later.

First then, the practical application of the Gospel in its own time – its “sitz im leben”.

This Gospel addresses specific circumstances that were being faced by a Christian community. The writer is urging his church to beware of internal factions and also seeks to strengthen their resolution in the face of hostility and persecution.

Barnabas Lindars, an Oxford theologian, writes," ...it is now widely accepted that the discourses are concerned with the actual issues of the church and synagogue debate at the time when the Gospel was written." The community of John was particularly strong in its criticism of Orthodox Judaism of its time. It would not have been many years since the followers of “The Way” of Jesus – the Christian sect – had been acrimoniously expelled from the synagogues.

It is only in the Gospel of John that we see these long speeches of Jesus where he speaks about himself in such divine terms. The discourses found in this Gospel are considered by many reliable scholars to have originated in sermons that are predominantly the evangelist's own composition but which may be loosely based on a saying or act of Jesus derived from the oral and synoptic Gospel tradition.

Many contemporary scholars regard the Gospel of John as more theological and certainly less historical than the Synoptics. John's picture of Jesus is very different from that which emerges in the Synoptic Gospels. In John Jesus is the pinnacle – he is very definitely presented as God incarnate and is to be greatly venerated.

So we can immediately see threads of varying layers in the text this morning.

We see how the writer is exhorting his community to stick together in the face of persecution by both The Orthodox Jews and the Romans. “Unity is strength”, he is saying. So Jesus, truly Yahweh’s Son in human form, is speaking to his disciples on the very evening of the final night of his arrest and death. He is offering words of hope and strength. He is telling them all that will befall him in the next few days.

Then, in a long prayer, he asks God to bless them and give them strength in their coming adversity. He is strengthening their understanding of him as God’s son and prays that the ancient God of Israel, his father, will uphold them and cause them to remember all he has told them about himself. He peaks in such intimate terms with Yahweh, reminiscent of the patriarchs of the Old Testament but in MUCH more intimacy. Here is a son speaking with a loving father not a servant bowing before an omnipotent God.

Across the centuries this story has gathered around it all sorts of connotations tailored for the particular time. Using the Midrashic principle we can adapt it as a lesson for our own community. There would be few communities where there is not dissent bubbling away either covertly under covers or overtly in obvious destructive acrimony between members. This phenomenon is not restricted to Christian churches of course but it is within a Christian context that I would address it.

For any community to flourish and succeed in its task there needs to be unity. Bring dissent and disunity and the community suffers and is weakened. Disunity can originate in many places and in many people. It can be deliberately broadly destructive or arise from personal and even unthinking selfishness.

There is an old Nigerian proverb that says: “The pebbles are the strength of the wall”.

So that traditional wisdom is saying that each individual is vital if unity is to be maintained. What is the purpose of this unity? The Gospel writer’s purpose was clear. In Verse 23 he explains that ‘they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’- that is, as a son! The deepest illustration of human love – parent for child!

What a wonderful thing this sense of family is? The illustration infers a deep bond that says, “Together we can overcome all adversity”.

Another proverb; this time from Ghana – “It is because one antelope will blow the dust from the other's eye that two antelopes walk together”. What a lovely insight. It’s not what we can get out of a relationship or our community – it’s what we can do to help our friend and neighbour – even if it is just ‘blowing the dust from the other’s eye.’

Professor Mary Shore , Luther Seminary St. Paul, Minnesota points out that this morning’s text is lifted from a PRAYER not an exhortation or instruction. So, she says, “Jesus is not offering instructions to the disciples or to the church they will lead. This means, for instance, that as important as evangelism is, when Jesus tells his Father that he is asking "not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word" (verse 20) he is not exhorting the church to participate in evangelism.

Likewise, as commendable as ecumenical partnerships are, when Jesus asks that those who believe and those who do not yet believe "may be one" (verse 21), he is not exhorting involvement in ecumenical dialogue.

Jesus is not exhorting the church here. He is not instructing. He is not preaching, teaching, or rallying the troops.

Jesus is praying.”

The question is raised, “How do you feel when someone prays out loud for you?

Comforted, vulnerable, grateful, honoured, humbled, awkward but appreciative, like someone really cares? It can make us feel uncomfortable to be the focus of another’s attention – even in love.

Perhaps that is why we have so often on the past made this passage into a list of orders or instructions. We wish to avoid the intimacy of prayer.

Professor Shore adds, “If Jesus were exhorting his disciples, and by extension us, we could strive to meet his expectations then. If he were exhorting us, we would have a mission - namely, not to disappoint him. Instead, we overhear a prayer on our behalf and are not called to action in that moment as much as wonder that the Father and the Son spend time discussing the likes of us and our little community of faith.”

When someone prays for us in our hour of need it is because they love us. When God, the very Spirit of love, is part of that and responds by bringing deep peace and joy into our lives, regardless of our circumstances, we are truly blessed.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU.

Good Friday Sermon

2010-04-02T10:23:00.001+10:30

GOOD FRIDAY

2^nd April 2010

Reading: The Passion Gospel

Gospel of St John - Chapters 18 & 19

In the name of God: Creator, Pain bearer and Spirit of Life and Love.

In July 2008 Meredith and I travelled to the beautiful little town of Assisi in Umbria, Italy. We travelled up from Rome by train and then taxi to the top of the hill where the ancient town is set. We stayed there for a week and walked the narrow mediaeval streets and visited the basilica and the tomb of St Francis.

It was a wonderful experience which I will never forget.

Inevitably within the basilica is a shop (even the Queen has one at Buckingham Palace!). Within the shop was a mighty array of souvenirs, ranging from the exquisite and expensive to the downright tawdry – mass produced cheap tourist kitsch.

Prominent amongst this range was the San Damiano cross in a variety of sizes and materials – from the tiny pocket size version probably made in Taiwan and costing a few cents to the large expensive model suitable for the wall or church. I have made a copy of this crucifix and offer it to you for a little Easter reflection. There is a large one in Adelaide featured at the Catholic Church on St Bernard’s Road, Newton.

This morning it is most appropriate that I reflect on the cross and crucifixion. The cross has become the universally recognised symbol of Christianity. There are many styles of cross that people of varied cultures use as a focal point of reflection and worship. They range from the Protestant bare and simple cross, often mounted on the front wall of the church, to the most ornate and artistically contrived bearing the figure of Jesus – sometimes in grotesque agony as would befit a human body subjected to such barbarous treatment - sometimes as something approaching a God figure who is impervious to the physical agony and is reaching out to the peoples of the world in love and power.

The Romans are conservatively estimated to have crucified around one hundred thousand people from the time of the Maccabean revolts in the second century B.C.E. up until Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished crucifixion in the Roman Empire in 337 out of veneration for Jesus Christ, its most famous victim.

A cruel prelude to crucifixion was scourging, which would cause the condemned to lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state of shock. The convict then usually had to carry the horizontal beam, but not necessarily the whole cross to the place of execution.

Crucifixion was typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commanding centurion and four soldiers. When it was done in an established place of execution, the vertical beam could even be permanently embedded in the ground. The condemned was usually stripped naked — all the New Testament gospels describe soldiers gambling for the robes of Jesus. (Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, John 19:23-25)

The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches long, with a square shaft ³⁄₈ inch across.

In his ‘Antiquities’ the Jewish historian Josephus reports that the Romans crucified many people by the walls of Jerusalem during the siege of 70 C.E. The idea was to terrorize the population and force surrender. The number reached 500 a day at one point until there was no suitable wood left in the area. We of this Australian westernised society of the 21^st century find it almost impossible to imagine such a scene of butchery and mayhem. Josephus mentions the crucifixion of Jesus.

Most scholars agree the passage is authentic. He writes:

‘Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us [the Jewish leaders], had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.’

Little did Josephus imagine the turn that history would take so that today, some 1900 years later, the name of Jesus is still almost universally revered.

There is some conflict of opinion here. I am intrigued that Josephus records that Jesus’ disciples did not forsake him. Whereas in the earliest Gospel to be written, that of Mark, he writes in Ch14:50, “[at Jesus’ arrest]... All of them deserted him and fled”. If we accept for a moment the Gospel writer’s version, we see that when the ‘chips were down’ and Jesus and his little band of followers were facing imminent danger, danger whereby their very lives were in jeopardy, they fled.

Where to? Like the ancient story of Jonah, as far away as their feet could carry them – possibly back to Galilee. It is postulated that Jesus died alone, abandoned by his friends and followers.

This is the day when we, so far removed in time and culture from all this, can stop and reflect on these horrible events at Jerusalem. In our own time death is sanitized – the facts are often ‘brushed under the carpet’. Death now is usually a gentle affair, in hospital and made easier by the use of painkilling drugs – a far cry from those barbarous days of the Roman Empire.

But people are still executed in some less enlightened countries – fortunately the human race seems to have progressed at least to the extent that the shocking barbarity of crucifixion no longer exists. In my opinion execution has no place in a civilized society, certainly one that claims to be based on Christianity. It is really based on an ethic of revenge, an ethic that Jesus completely refuted.

Where do we stand amongst our friends and community? Have we, like the disciples, fled in fear from the embarrassment of associating with this Jesus of Nazareth?

Since ordination I have to admit to finding it a little confrontational to go out in public wearing my clerical collar. I am announcing to all and sundry that I am a priest of the Christian Church and a follower of the Nazarene. But I am proud to wear that ‘uniform’ and have found that everyone with whom I have come in contact respect it. I realize that may not always be so but will face that when and if it arises.

Good Friday sets before us a mighty challenge.

Forget the often maudlin manner in which this day is portrayed. The butchery and violence of the first century Roman Empire are in our face.

Jesus rose above that violence with a message of profound love and forgiveness – even to those who drove in the nails.

Where does that leave us today? The very least we can do is to live our lives in open acknowledgement of Christ’s sacrifice. That means living in love both for our loveable neighbour and also all those unlovable people in the community.

Contemplate the San Damiano cross, its intricacies and the direction made to St Francis – “Go out and rebuild the church”.

That’s the simple message of Good Friday.

Not the violence but the love!

THE LORD BE WITH YOU

The San Damiano Cross

2010-04-01T10:16:00.002+10:30

St. Francis of Assisi was praying before the San Damiano Cross, pictured here, when he received his calling from God; he had a vision in which the Crucified Jesus called out to him and said “Francis, rebuild my Church.” He began fixing up all the churches in the area – but that was not what God had been telling him to do. Francis eventually realised what was required and set about building up the church rather than just the buildings.

Christ on this cross is not lifeless. Rather he is strong and regal, looking upon us with love. His hands are not tight from being nailed to the cross but rather stretched out as if he is praying for us and blessing us.

This crucifix speaks of life rather than death. Above his head is a picture of the ascension where Christ is surrounded by a host of angels and God’s hand is blessing him. Below the outstretched arms are some of the people who the Gospels tell us were at the cross. Mary, Jesus’ mother and St John stand together. On the right is Mary Magdalene, another disciple and the centurion. The little boy behind him is the centurion’s son who, in the Gospel story, was healed by Jesus. A multitude of images and metaphors are hidden in this ancient crucifix. It is worthwhile reflecting upon it in prayer.

The First Sunday of Lent 2010

2010-02-21T19:45:00.002+10:30

SERMON: IST SUNDAY OF LENT 2010

TEXT: LUKE 4: 1-15

IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LOVE AND LIFE

I need not tell you that today is the first Sunday of a season the church calls Lent. It begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until Easter. It spans 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Saturday but excludes Sundays as this First day of the week’ is the day the church regularly celebrates Jesus’ resurrection . The word we use in English – Lent - was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, meaning spring (It is the northern spring – a factor we often overlook). In France the season is called Careme, and in Italy it is Quarestima, both derived from the Latin Quadragesima.

Lent in the Western Churches was originally a period of forty days of fasting and penitence, readying the Christian for the great feast on the ensuing Easter Sunday and is held as a period of sober reflection, self-examination, and spiritual redirection.

The period of forty days had an important symbolic meaning in the ancient Jewish religion. Moses and Elijah spent forty days in the wilderness; the Jews wandered forty years searching for the Promised Land; Jonah gave the city of Nineveh forty days' grace in which to repent and Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to prepare for his ministry. It was for Him a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation.

So by observing Lent, most Christians join Jesus on His retreat.
The naming of the Lenten period of forty days owes its origin to the Latin word Quadragesima, originally signifying forty hours. This referred to forty hours of complete fasting which preceded the Easter celebration in the early Church.

The main ceremony then was not the Eucharist as we know it but the baptizing of the initiates on Easter Eve, and the fast was a preparation to receive this sacrament.

Lent has always represented a period of fasting, prayer and contemplation in the Orthodox Christian church. I would like to ask – ‘What does this time mean for you?”

For some of us it would be exactly what I have described - a period of self-examination, reflection and prayer. But I am willing to bet that for most people in church congregations it is a time where lip service is made but not much else.

Perhaps a token relinquishing of the evening pre-dinner drink? Perhaps we give up sugar in our tea or coffee. Perhaps we hide the box of Haigh’s chocolates until Easter when the Easter Bunny (or Bilby as the case may be) finds them and our little indulgences are restored.

Have we given thought to what the message of Lent really conveys? Is it not a message of sacrifice? Think about it! To take oneself off into the desert for forty days (or some long period) without provision for food and shelter would today be considered sheer madness.

I seem to recall a story of a young man who, a few years ago, caused considerable anxiety when he decided to travel across one of Australia’s deserts with little or no supplies and backup. His intention did not arise out of some religious conviction. He just wanted to prove a point, prove to himself that he could do it and get his 15 minutes of fame in the process. He achieved all that and a sigh of relief went up when he arrived safely.

These people of ancient times however were not looking for fame nor were they trying to prove something to themselves or others, they were deliberately putting themselves in a place of sacrifice and physical deprivation in order to become closer to God.

I remember a song from some years ago which carried the line “in the desert you can remember your name and there ain’t no one for to give you no pain” (obviously the grammar suggests it is an American composition – it’s actually called “A Horse with no name”). It’s a sad song as it ends by saying there is no human love in the cities.

Is that true- that we need to test ourselves with rigour and deprivation in order to find God? Is it really necessary to travel into some inhospitable and uncomfortable place to find peace and love? I think not.

I do agree though, that it is necessary to find a quiet place and some sort of refuge from our busy and noisy world. We can do that without taking ourselves off into the desert. We can close our door, disconnect the phone, turn off the TV and radio and sit quietly in our own home. During the last few months I have often done just that. I have ceased listening to talkback radio and choose instead to listen to music appropriate to my mood. I feel that I have not missed anything of importance but have avoided a great deal of stress. I recommend it to you.

I still feel that this is all still self-serving though. It might be helpful for me but I have to ask is it helpful for anyone else? It’s obviously not – except that we might become more relaxed and easier to live with.

What I am trying to say is that sacrifice is of little or no value unless it changes something in the world for the better.

You know, the greatest positive sacrifice we can make is to cease our self-indulgence – our self-centredness.

There is nothing more self-centred than a child. Obviously this trait which is found in all humans is some sort of primeval survival instinct. A human child without parental support will quickly die. They need food, clothing, shelter and something too often denied – love. When any of these necessities seem to be withheld the child suffers and lets parents know in the only possible way for it – it cries and loudly!

Too often we carry this childish self-centredness into our adult life. It even seems to grow larger as we age, as we become less self-assured and begin to sense our power and independence waning. This is when we begin to compensate by often becoming pedantic and inflexible in our ways. We are totally unable to tolerate any form of change. We assume as personal effrontery and persistently close our ears to some suggestion which could make changes to our community. We find it uncomfortable when new people enter our circle.

Last Christmas the Archbishop gave me a book entitled ‘Facing the Future’ in which various Bishops from around Australia have written essays on their vision of a future church. It is sub-titled ‘Bishops imagine a different church’.

The evangelical Bishop of Armidale has written on the challenges facing the church in rural Australia (particularly northern NSW) and how that Anglican Diocese is proving most successful in dealing with the future. He says this in part: (Facing The Future: Bishop’s imagine a different church, Hale S & Curnow A. (eds). Acorn Press, Brunswick East, Melbourne, Australia, 2009.) PP 106- 07, 108.

Bishop Peter Brain also says: “Urban living, with its ease of anonymity and sheer weight of numbers, can so easily mask the sacrificial service of city and suburban pastors and people”. Too often the wider community doesn’t even know we exist as a faith community – except when they find themselves I need of help.

The message I felt I had to speak today has not been easy to compile. But I truly believe that in prayer God had something to say to our parishes!

These are hard issues! There have been many and considerable sacrifices made by the clergy in these parishes in order to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the widest audience possible. It takes many years of financial sacrifice and focussed study to find oneself in this position. It is not done for the money I assure you! Mostly people acknowledge and respect sacrifice in anyone. There are many sacrifices made by members of these churches on a weekly basis and there are detractors who would undermine and prevent changes because they cannot bear to see the status quo change. How often do we give thought to the fact that someone may need a respite from work they do and have done for a very long time on a regular basis?

When we consider these things is it possible for us to somehow enter the church of the early centuries and relive the depth of meaning those people put into Lent?

Can we sacrifice those things in our hearts and minds that would destroy our relationship with God and our neighbours – our club mentality and our sad refusal to honour others‘sacrifices?

The Archbishop’s Lenten study is about Jonah who found it hard to face up to what God was calling him to do. He eventually was forced albeit with ill grace to accede to God’s demands. Will we make it necessary for God to figuratively ‘prepare a great fish to swallow us up’ and drag us kicking and in ill humour back into fellowship with Him and His church?

They are hard questions aren’t they? But I believe it is vital we address them especially as we enter into this season of Lent for 2010. Very much food for thought.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU

The story of the transfiguration of Jesus

2010-02-15T23:33:00.005+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD – CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE

TEXT: Luke 9: 28-36

Today we read a story which is contained in all three of the Synoptic Gospels; the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. It is a fascinating story and one’s first reaction has to be “why is this story included in the Gospels?”

To get anywhere near an answer to that question we must first set down some parameters of just what these writings that we call the Gospels are; when they were written, and why they were written. Are they meant to be historic fact or is there some other purpose? Is the culture, world view and thought processes of these ancient writers the same as our western culture and world view? How much of these writings purporting to set down a record of the very words of Jesus of Nazareth is that sort of verbatim record that we are so used to reading in this 21^st century. Is there a connection between the Gospels and the Hebrew Scriptures that we call the ‘Old Testament”?

These are just a few of the questions that we must address if we are to come to any sort of reasoned understanding of this story. They are confronting questions to many people – they are unsettling because they bring into question many of our preconceptions of Scripture that have been laid down by the early orthodox western church and have gradually set like concrete in our minds.

Rev Dr Andrew Dutney, a lecturer in theology at Flinders University in Adelaide, wrote a book with a rather intriguing title. It was Disillusionment: Reflections on the Experience of Theological Education.

I can attest that his choice of title was spot on. Doing theology did indeed prove to bring ‘disillusionment’. Some people in the classes were simply unable to cope with the necessary shift of understanding that dawned upon us when we were instructed in the history and background of the Biblical writings – and dropped out (sadly). They were simply unable to cope with becoming ‘disillusioned’.

I on the other hand found the revelations liberating. I was very happy to have my ‘illusions’ removed. It was like having blurred vision and then suddenly being fitted with a pair of spectacles – the clarity and sense that it made was almost blinding.

But back to the questions and the setting of some parameters.

Scholars agree that this gospel was written by a Gentile (non Jew) possibly at Antioch sometime perhaps during the last decade of the first century – some 60 to 70 years after the events it purports to describe. It is clear that it was written to support the expansion of “The Way” of Jesus of Nazareth beyond the traditional male controlled Jewish synagogues.

Scholars also agree that these writings are not and never were intended to be read or heard as historic fact as we now understand it. They are religious treatises based around the liturgical year of the Synagogue and their declared intention was to convert people to join the community of the early Christian churches.

Scholars also agree that they do carry some kernels of the remembered words / sayings and events of Jesus’ life. It is a great mistake though to assume that all the words and events attributed to Jesus are literal. Many clever literary devices have been used.

These are very competent writings. Luke’s Gospel relies heavily on the earlier Gospel of Mark, which in turn drew on a source now no longer extant called ‘Q’ for ‘Quelle’ – the German word for ‘Source’. This was a document which has just left traces of itself in the gospels – like shreds of mist which remain across the hills after sunup. It is universally believed to have existed about 20 years after Jesus’ crucifixion and contained some sort of written record of his words and actions as remembered by his followers.

The Gospels do draw heavily on the Hebrew Scriptures - Matthew particularly. Luke not so much as his intended audience was not the Jews in the synagogues – his Gentile audience would have found the intricacies of the Jewish traditions opaque.

Today however we read a story of Jesus climbing a mountain with three friends named as Peter, John and James. Whilst deep in prayer we read that the appearance of his face was changed and his clothes became dazzling white.

Does this scenario ring any bells for you? Remember Exodus chapter 34, our Old Testament reading for this morning? The very same thing happened to Moses. He also took three men up the mountain with him. It would be good to also read II Kings Chapter 2. In this ancient story Elijah, the other man Jesus ‘met’ on the mountain, avoids death and is taken up to Heaven on a chariot of fire – what a way to go!

There was also a tradition that Moses did not die as all humans do.

Now here they both are with Jesus in some sort of supernatural state having a conversation.

The Transfiguration is a Christological festival in the church year. (Christology is the theological study of the person and deeds of Jesus). It neatly closes off the period of Christmas and Epiphany before we enter Lent on Ash Wednesday this coming week. The two festivals complement each other in striking ways.

When we understand that in the Hebrew scriptures God's holy light had always connected the people of Israel to God's presence, the Jewish doctrinal elements in the story of Jesus' transfiguration become even more obvious. This tradition of being connected to God's light began in the wilderness, when the pillar of fire guided Israel by night and the pillar of cloud guided Israel by day. Both the fire and the cloud were symbols of the divine connecting light.

The Orthodox Church’s belief and teaching is that in the Incarnation celebrated at Christmas, the divine enters into the human world. In the Transfiguration, the human Jesus shares in divine glory.

The Orthodox Church’s belief and teaching is that in the Incarnation celebrated at Christmas, the divine enters into the human world. In the Transfiguration, the human Jesus shares in divine glory.

In the Incarnation, God takes on human form and resides with us mortals on earth. In the Transfiguration, the earthly Jesus shares the company of two great and worthy residents of heaven, Moses and Elijah.

Peter, James, and John are happy to see Jesus glorified. He had talked previously about his forthcoming suffering and death. But that was horrible, and now for at least a moment it appears that all that can be bypassed.

Jesus is in glory already, and they are with him. They want to camp out with him on the mountain. That is a natural reaction.

People seek inner peace, and they try all kinds of things to achieve it — anything that will promise much, but demand little.

In the story Moses and Elijah talk with Jesus. They know the mind and will of God. They speak of Jesus' forthcoming "exodus" or "departure," his forthcoming death and resurrection, which Jesus had spoken of before going up the mountain (see verse 22).

They confirm that this is the will of God for him.

The way of God for Jesus cannot bypass the cross.

This is at the heart of our Christian faith. Jesus has come to reveal God and redeem humanity. And the way that God has chosen to carry out this redemptive purpose is to send Jesus, to bear our sins upon himself at the cross.

Again, in the story God speaks of Jesus as his Chosen One, for Jesus has accepted his role. Moreover, the disciples of Jesus are to listen to him. What he has said about himself and what is to happen is God's will.

What he says about discipleship is also to be heeded. All his teachings about love for God and for our fellow human beings are to be observed.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord is a day that gives us a glimpse of the coming future glory of Christ at Easter. But it also reminds us that the way to Easter is through the cross.

A few verses after today’s reading (Luke 9 verse 51) Luke writes that Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem," where all that has been spoken of will take place for him.

For us Lent begins on Wednesday when we will figuratively follow in Jesus footsteps through to Good Friday and then to the joy and mystery of Easter Day.

There is another aspect of this day that I want to briefly consider – a much more personal aspect.

Transfiguration means a marked change in form or appearance; a metamorphosis; a change that glorifies or exalts.

In the ancient traditions that we have been contemplating this metamorphosis is brought about by close proximity to God.

Jesus of Nazareth, who was in close proximity to and intimate with God, changed the world and brought humanity to the point where we are able to see (albeit vaguely and often indistinctly through our blurred vision) a path that, if only we were resolute enough to follow, can take us deeper into the mystery that we sometimes perceive within us and which we call God.

God is the unfathomable mystery whose presence we as self aware creatures sense deep within our innermost being – the very Spirit of life itself – all encompassing – all permeating – universal yet so personal – the source of our love and our life.

God within us and we within God.

To quote from the commercial world, “Oh, What a feeling!”

The trouble is that one cannot be close to God without experiencing transfiguration – metamorphosis. It is an experience that sets us on that path that we must then follow no matter what life brings.

There is, like Jesus, no turning back if we are to find the rewards of God’s peace and strength in our lives.

To grasp this idea is to become changed – a different person. It means following Christ and having my world view changed from introspection (only what suits and benefits me regardless of the effect on others around me and my community) to extrospection whereby my world view has changed to be outward looking and mindful of others – my family, my community and the wider world.

If only you and I could experience such a transfiguration! What a difference it could make. The future is in our hands.

May we pray for the guidance and resolve to follow Jesus Christ through the experience of transfiguration so that we too might be found close to God and reflect some of that brilliant light into our broader communities – light that will attract those who are searching and groping in the dark for direction in their lives.

MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU

I acknowledge use of the text Commentary from the book by Bishop John Shelby Spong, LIBERATING THE GOSPELS: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes, pg. 78-80.]

BAPTISM OF JESUS - (1ST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY)

2010-01-10T10:41:00.003+10:30

TEXT: GOSPEL of LUKE 3: 15-22

IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE.

“kalee-mera!” “Ti kan-etay?”

You are all looking slightly vague and perplexed!!!

Your response should be – either “kala” (fine) or “etsi ketsi” (so –so)

Perhaps it’s all Greek to you? Well that’s just what it is!

When Meredith and I travelled in Greece in 2008 we had to recite these and other phrases as we travelled along. They did come in useful – I must say. People respond positively when they see an attempt to use their language – no matter how bad the accent! This applies especially in France where it is imperative to differentiate oneself from the English tourist. Greeks are much more laid back and frankly opportunistic when it comes to meeting foreign tourists – it’s also surprising how many people speak perfect English. That aside however, it’s always good to address people in their own tongue if at all possible – It puts aside much of the arrogance often displayed by the ignorant archetypal tourist who thinks that if one speaks slowly and loudly enough in English - often with a funny accent, the poor hearer will understand.

I felt led to speak about language today in the light of this being the day when the church celebrates Jesus’ baptism. In reflecting on this word which is so familiar to us all I realised that it was not an English word at all but GREEK! Hence my greeting in Greek!

In ordinary everyday secular usage ‘baptizein’ or ‘baptisma’ translates to English as “to dip” or “to plunge”. In the passive it is used in the sense of “be drowned”, or to” sink”.

It’s hardly surprisingly the word found its way into Christianity and hence the English language via John the Baptist. John’s practice of plunging his converted into the waters of the river Jordan gave him his nickname – “the Baptist”. The practice was utilised by the early Christian church as an initiation rite and hence the word came into our vocabulary. John Baptised, as we are told, “for the forgiveness of sins”. It was a Jewish symbolic washing away of guilt arising from a person’s perceived wrongdoing.

It soon came to mean more than that, however, as the early church assumed it as their rite of initiation and a public indication of a conversion to what became known as “the way” of Jesus.

There is no doubt that in, and before the early church, the rite was confined to responsible adult persons who had indicated their acceptance of the teachings of John and then Jesus as interpreted by the early church apostles such as Paul and others.

In the mid 50’s Paul writes in Romans, Galatians and 1 Corinthians concerning baptism but tantalisingly for us, offers no explanation. His readers and hearers knew what he was talking about.

It is also in the little book called “The Didache” which, published around 80ce, sets out the practices of the early church. Sadly we can but guess at detail whilst trying to piece together the jigsaw puzzle.

Without getting involved in a deep theological discussion I would suggest that there are two ends of the spectrum of Baptism. On one end we have a rite involving water and which is definitely a human initiated action.

On the other we have God’s involvement in the form of bestowed grace. A theologian by the name of James Dunn states that the initiative for baptism is human. Philip Tolliday from the Adelaide College of Divinity and Flinders University agrees, stating that God’s “divine action is of a different kind” to that of the human component and not in competition or conflict.

So, baptism was for adults, was an initiatory rite, was unrepeatable and set a person into the church community. It brings about a “rebirth” in the candidate – a regeneration. The ancient Tertullian observed, “Christians are made – not born”.

Baptism is a sacrament of the church – it is not magical – it is meant to be a public initiatory rite – which is why I believe baptism should only be administered within the regular service of the church and in the midst of the Christian community.

So called “private’ baptisms are in direct conflict with this and are, in my opinion, to be strenuously avoided. The presence of the church community is needed as it is the community that is asked to respond “WE WILL” to the question, “You have heard these brothers and sisters respond to Christ. Will you support them in this calling?” The community is a vital and integral part of the service.

Baptism is also an action closely bound with daily human life – and it is symbolic of and demands a change. It can be seen as the human response to gracious and undeserved forgiveness. The act of pouring the water is an indication of ‘living water’ – water that is in motion rather than still and dead – and symbolic of the ‘Living water” mentioned by Jesus.

The Gospel reading today raises another interesting point. John is reported as saying that Jesus will not baptise with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire – This perhaps being a reference to the day of Pentecost experience when this same writer of Luke describes a scene where tongues of fire seemed to appear on the gathered disciples resulting in a resurgence of courage and purpose that took them into the streets effectively preaching Jesus as having been the very revelation of God to humanity.

Today many communities of the charismatic evangelical persuasion maintain that they must see the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in a person in the form of untranslatable language and other psychological phenomena, as evidence of the baptism by and presence of the Holy Spirit.

That interpretation is one with which I cannot agree. I have no doubt that such overt demonstrations have their source in the psychological disturbance of susceptible people. Of course, you are entitled to disagree with me.

I however would prefer to search for evidence of the deep inner peace of mind, and the strength to face life’s inevitable challenges that only the spirit of God can bring into a life. This is something that does not ‘magically appear’ as a result of some human initiated rite. It is something that comes, sometimes dramatically, sometimes slowly over time, to settle like a refreshing morning mist that comes with the long awaited change after days of dry heatwave.

As I see it, the value that is to be found in baptism, particularly of an infant, is not some perceived ‘magic’ but a resounding call for the family and the community to support that person and ensure that all possible is done to surround them with the love that is found in the spirit of God and should be found in the church community.

Sadly we all too often fail abysmally in this regard.

Let me remind you of the exhortation from the Prayer book for Australia which is said during the gathering and preparation segment of the Baptism service;

Baptism is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When he had risen from the dead, he commanded his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We have come together to obey that command. Baptism with water signifies the cleansing from sin that Jesus’ death makes possible, and the new life that God gives us through the Holy Spirit.

In baptism, the promises of God are visibly signed and sealed for us. We are joined to Christ, and made members of his body, the Church universal.

So it’s not about the rite itself – the pouring of water over the head of a person – or the immersion of a person into water – it’s more about the question that is difficult to answer. That is, has God here acted in a human life? Has the spirit of God come into that person’s life – not as a result of some magic that a human has performed in a rite – but as a result of humble prayer arising from a genuine desire to turn around an unsatisfactory and unsatisfying life?

So as evidenced in Acts 10 the dynamic is from the Spirit towards baptism rather than out of baptism emerges the spirit. Here is the question then,” How may we better recognize the grace of God in a human life?”

The answer is not about judging another person at all. It is rather being able to recognise what Paul called ‘the fruits of the spirit’ in Galatians 5: 22 - Love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

There would appear to be no difficulty in recognising such traits in any person. There is no doubt that out of this comes a mighty challenge to us all. We might well have been subjected to or subjected ourselves to the rite of baptism but are we able to confidently assert that the spirit of God resides in us?

Food for thought!

The Lord be with you!

Christmas Reflections

2009-12-27T10:14:00.000+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LOVE AND LIFE

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52

Today’s Gospel reading is a story that is exclusive to Luke. It does not appear in any of the other Gospels. One has to wonder why Luke included this story. It appears to have no satisfactory resolution. It leaves Mary wondering. It’s strange too that only Jesus and his mother are given speaking roles. Where does the story come from?

Did you note the first reading for today from 1 Samuel? How closely it resembles and parallels the Gospel? Have you also noted that The Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2: 1-10 closely resembles Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1?

From these comparisons it would seem that the Gospel writer has taken much of his material from the scroll of 1 Samuel. The story of the early days and childhood of Jesus has been wrapped in the Hebrew Scriptures – particularly in these early chapters of Luke where 1 Samuel appears to be a major inspiration.

Luke is also exceedingly clever in making this story a foreshadowing of Easter!

Notice that this incident occurs at the time of the Passover feast – The gospels place Jesus’ passion and crucifixion at Passover. Additionally Jesus is ‘lost’ for three days (see verse 46 – “After three days they found him …”.

One could say that they “found” Jesus after three days in the tomb. Bear in mind that Luke was writing retrospectively as all these events had occurred between fifty to seventy years before. Was there a surviving oral tradition of this story? Very doubtful.

To find out a little more about Luke’s motives we need to turn back to the opening verses of his Gospel. He addresses a person, apparently of some eminence, called “Theophilus” – of some eminence and social prominence because he is addressed as being ‘most excellent’.

Of course we must not rush to assume that such a person really existed as the translation of the name means “Lover of God”.

It is entirely possible that Luke, a non-Jew, couched his Gospel in these terms and used the name in order to give more credence to his story. Not Jewish certainly, but educated in the Hebrew Scriptures without doubt.

That is not to say that Theophilus did not really exist but it is a possibility that cannot be overlooked. The Gospel writers have used many literary devices in order to enhance their magnificent stories.

It is also worth noting the continuing parallels between 1 Samuel and Luke’s account. Samuel “grew up in the presence of the Lord” and he “grew in stature and in favour with the Lord and with the people”. Note the closeness of the wording here with that of the Gospel writer in verse 52. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour.”

Here is maturity on two levels.

Increasing recognition and respect as a worthwhile citizen within his community and a growing closeness to God – growing relationships on the two basic levels of human life – God and community.

It goes without saying that we live in an entirely different world from the first century Roman Empire. In this scientific age of continuing experimentation and research we as a civilisation constantly pursue knowledge of our physical universe and also human behaviour - and are not satisfied until we break open the problem and derive answers – that is our culture!

We now apply this way of thinking to the Biblical Scriptures. We read and need to make sense of it. It has to add up! We must arrive at an understanding! Well, in this story there is no satisfactory resolution – Mary is just left pondering and thinking about that incident.

It’s sort of like watching a suspenseful murder mystery movie – that seems to be leading to a satisfactory end when the culprit will be revealed and when that doesn’t happen - the end comes leaving one in agonising suspense – “Well, if he didn’t do it, who did??” But one is ‘left hanging’ – there is no answer forthcoming. What do you do? Grumble, turn off the TV and go to bed in a cloud of unresolved frustration to lie awake rehashing the details hoping to discover some little hint that was missed? – or shrug the shoulders, put the cat out and move on – appreciating the skill of the producers to ‘lead you up the garden path’.

This Gospel story provides no resolution – the onlookers do not understand. Was there no ongoing conversation about this apparent child prodigy amongst the priests in the synagogue? Was there no discussion and continuing interest in this boy who was smart beyond his years?

We are not told – the scene has been set – the play acted out – and the actors leave the stage – Jesus has been shown as a boy whose intelligence and knowledge is beyond his years – we are being set up for what is to come – for next we read about the advent of John the Baptist and Jesus is further elevated in stature and importance.

The fact that we, like the onlookers and Mary, often fail to understand what we read, hear and even feel within our own heart and mind, is something all who in sincerity are searching for a closer understanding of God within can find frustrating and demoralising.

What do we do when we seem to find no answer to life’s many problems? When we find we seem to be facing a constant wall of doubt? When God seems distant and unreachable and we seem to be left to our own meagre resources? When we think we simply do not understand?

The fact is it is not necessary that we understand all things. The very heart of the Gospel tells us that we need not. Discovering and recognising God within us is not religion – it can be a very real experience – an experience that can come to anyone without understanding everything.

The point is that once having experienced God’s presence within us we need only grasp that - cling to that - and live out our life faithfully to the Gospel.

Meeting the God who is revealed in Christ is not about spiritual transcendence or being especially "religious" or relinquishing a normal life. The Gospel writers are all particularly scathing of the overtly religious.

For most of us it’s not a matter of disappearing into a monastery or convent – cutting ourselves off from everything we find challenging in society. God is not to be found just in the extraordinary or mystical experience. God is to be found deeply embedded in and with raw humanity amid the historical, physical, political, economic, and social places where humans live, love, serve, and celebrate.

In our New Testament reading Paul is addressing the Christian community in Colossae and warns of the dangers of sole reliance on religious practice. He points to the way of life that Jesus lived – simply, inclusively and with all embracing love, acceptance and forgiveness. The closer the community emulates the life of Christ the more it reflects the very nature and presence of God within it – the evidence of that presence is love – love for one another and for neighbour and indeed the world.

That’s the secret, says Paul.

Love not religion – there is a big difference!

There are cynics of course. I read of one old grump (they are always old, aren’t they?) who grumbled “Love! Ha! The only place you can really know what love means in on the tennis court!”

Love is not just a feeling – love is the real power of God working in us – love is God in us!

If we have love we have no need to understand all things – we can trust the Spirit of God that is made known to us in Christ – and if we have love we can trust each other. Love brings trust – not necessarily understanding – that’s not required.

This Christmas season is a time when we can all reflect on these things. Do we really understand what God did in Jesus? I doubt it.

It’s really not necessary – all we need to know is that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself”.

So let us put aside our differences, our petty misunderstandings, our lack of understanding and our enmities – and allow the spirit of love to permeate our lives. The rewards, both to us and our community will be incalculable.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU!

The Meaning of Christmas

2009-12-25T10:02:00.001+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD; CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE

Luke 2:1-20 and John 1: 1-14

Let’s be quite honest about this – Christmas, for everyone, means presents! Some gifts are the result of much thought and love, others are bought in a state of panic as the person (usually a man) rushes through the shops on his way home from the office breakup party on Christmas Eve, frantically casting about in the hope of finding something of inspiration to (hopefully) bring happiness to his wife, who has weeks before bought all the gifts for the children and indeed her husband. With a bit of luck the complimentary gift wrapping service will still be operating and he can take home a gift that looks beautiful and appealing even if the size of the underwear is all wrong! It will usually be underwear too - usually the more inappropriate of design or colour and almost certainly the wrong size.

Children who are sometimes impossible to remove from their beds in the mornings are wide awake at the first glimmer of Christmas morning light – about 4.30am! They see with some satisfaction that the glass of whisky left out for Father Christmas is empty and that the reindeer’s carrot has been nibbled. But first priority is the pillow case or pile of prettily wrapped gifts at the end of their bed – somehow placed there in the night by that jolly old bearded gift bearer. Carefully wrapped presents are soon ripped open and with great excitement the parents are roused to see “what Father Christmas has brought me”.

We are all familiar with these aspects of the contemporary Christmas are we not? The capitalist society in which we live ensures that for months leading up to this day the focus of our attention is on gift purchases - the bigger and more extravagant the better of course. It doesn’t matter that our credit card has almost reached its limit – that January might be a bit tight to say the least – all thought of that is put to one side as we ensure our Christmas will be the best our family and ourselves can have. The stores and banks reap another great harvest!

The greatest gift has often been entirely overlooked. It is the gift of a child – and no ordinary child at that. Some 2000 years ago God gave humanity a gift that is unsurpassed. This was a gift that was very well planned and cost the earth – it certainly cost a life!

In our Gospel reading Luke tells us of the birth of Jesus.

The story is beautiful – it contains all the elements of a wonderful and fantastic tale. We are now all familiar with the shepherds in the fields, the choir of angels and the birth in the inn stable – what a romantic turn of phrase has Luke?

I want to compare that scene set by Luke with the setting of Jesus’ advent into the world as told by the Evangelist John. An alternative Gospel for today is John 1: 1-14.

The first verse of John’s gospel defines Jesus as the Logos in terms of:
‘Being’- i.e. he existed ... in terms of relationship -with God, and in terms of identity -was God!? This is not Luke's baby wrapped cosily and lovingly placed in a manger. By the turn of the first century John has defined this baby Jesus as God incarnate.

John goes further however. He relates how this man who was God incarnate born into this world, was totally rejected. Of course the experiences of the fledgling church during that first century had proven this beyond any doubt for John. Not only was Jesus, and his followers, rejected by the Roman authorities (witness the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian and others) but more hurtfully by his own people, the Jews. Whether we like it or not the shadow of the cross looms over the joys of Christmas – there is no Christmas without Easter – we should never forget that!

I read a true story about a legendary used-book shop in America.

The bookstore was owned by a man named "McCosh." McCosh was worse than a curmudgeon; he was a crusty, cynical, peevish man with an amazing collection of used books, if he would only let you look at them. (The books may have hinted that he had a nicer side, but it was well concealed.)

One year in December McCosh topped even himself when he put up a large banner across the front window of the store that said: "Put the X back in Xmas." It's pretty certain that McCosh only meant to be cynical, but in an odd way he said something important. Put the "X" back in Christmas. Put the "cross" back in Christmas. The birth of Jesus by itself never saved anyone. That’s shocking, but true.

Those who come to church only at Christmas and Easter (the old C and E instead of C of E) miss the heart of the gospel—they miss the point –the Son's obedience even unto death—So we must include it also at Christmas, the one Christian festival the world most embraces. (Prof. Marc Kolden, Professor of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota)

What did Jesus’ birth achieve then? Why did he come into this world? Who was he really? Was he, as John would tell us, more than just another human man? They are massive questions and can’t be answered in a brief sermon such as this. We can ask though, “What did his life achieve?” “Can it have a meaning for us in a totally different society in this 21st century?”

It is in Christ that we catch a glimpse of the nature of God. It is through Christ that we find a pathway which can lead us deeper into the mystery that is God. It is in Christ that we catch the aura of love and inclusiveness which emanates from God both through the sacrifice of his own life and through the lovely story of his birth.

What do we do when offered an unexpected present at this time? Usually, being of Anglo descent, we embarrassingly murmur things like, “Oh, you shouldn’t have”. “Oh for me – but I have nothing to give you in return?” - “Oh How wonderful and lovely of you - but I don’t deserve that”.

Today we celebrate the gift of God to humanity – The gift of Luke’s baby Jesus of Nazareth – the Cosmic Christ of St John - what are we going to say to God in return? The very least we can do is say “Thank you” and accept the gift with the joy it deserves!

May we all experience the joy, reassurance and deep peace that today can bring?

The Lord be with you.

John the Baptist

2009-12-13T09:24:00.000+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD – CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE.

3rd Sunday of Advent 2009

John the Baptist (or Baptiser) – what a character!

His ministry pre-dates the work and ministry of Jesus.

Here John is portrayed as an Old Testament prophet in the style of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

In fact he is the last of the Old Testament prophets – when Jesus came upon the scene there was to be no going back – no returning to the old ways of the law and the prophets for the people of Israel.

They were offered another way – an alternative to the rigours of the Torah.

If we look back into last week’s reading we see in verse 3 that John was in the vicinity of the Jordan river ‘proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’. The text of the ancient prophet Isaiah in chapter 40 is quoted - “all flesh shall see the salvation of God”.

The salvation of God was not to be limited to a select few – not the religious elite – not the king and the aristocracy – but ‘all flesh’ – everyone – of high estate or of no estate – rich or poor – the whole gamut of humanity.

The ‘salvation of God’ that John was talking about offered a chance to start life anew – to clear the decks of the mind and conscience from the accumulated detritus of wrong-doing and careless living. To put aside the things that were troubling the conscience and dragging the person down into the depths of remorse and possibly depression.

Here was a chance to be helped up – to be able to stand again on one’s own two feet and renew relationships in a re-invigorated life.

John was dealing here with the lower end of society – the poor (whose poverty would make our poor of the 21st Century look rich) – the bent tax collectors who had the reputation of extracting more than was required and pocketing the difference – and the Jewish mercenary soldiers working within the Roman army who often ‘stood over’ people and bullied them into giving protection money (and we think Al Capone of the 1920’s had invented something new!).

Let’s make no mistake – these were generally an unsavoury lot – people about whom you would think very hard before inviting them into your home.

They did have their traditions and hopes though.

It’s all very contemporary. “Surely God will accept us as we are Jews – the chosen people of God!’ it doesn’t matter about our lifestyles – it doesn’t matter that we are a bit crooked – it doesn’t matter that we hardly have enough to get by and feed our families – we are all descended from Abraham – the Abraham who received the promises from God that his descendants would be favoured for ever”.

John’s instruction to these people is all too clear.

John is scathing – ‘God is able to from these stones to raise up children to Abraham”.

Don’t think you are anything special – God will judge you not on your ancestry or place in human society but on who you really are underneath all that.

I am reminded that the author of this gospel of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles – remember the scene in acts where peter addressed a derisive crowd on the morning of Pentacost?

He preached a sermon that would be the envy of any aspiring preacher and evangelist – the result – Acts 2: 37 – “they (the people) were cut to the heart and said to peter and the other Apostles, “brothers, what should we do?”

This phrase – ‘what should we do?’ is repeated here by the people listening to John.

But what strikes me most powerfully about this piece of the gospel is the virulent attack by John on these people as they came to seek him out.

He abuses them in the most violent language possible. There is nothing genteel here! How often we Anglicans want to close our eyes at this sort of language?

It doesn’t belong in church! It is offensive in the extreme – we don’t use language like that – one doesn’t swear in church!

During the course of the last 2000 years the church has carefully wrapped the Gospel stories and Jesus in particular in many layers of cotton wool. The base reality of these stories and situations has long been forgotten – it was dirty and people smelt!!

John’s attack comes because he knew these people were not genuine in their approach to him. They came because they had seen others come and thought that ‘we might as well join in’. They came because it seemed like a bit of fun at the time - they came because they were curious about this amazing spectacle of a ludicrous eccentric who seemed to be ranting about some new way that was to come.

People still attempt to come to God today – they think that maybe God is to be found in the church so they timidly come into church and more often than not sit quietly at the back so as not to become too involved in something they either do not understand or only have vague memories of from a distant childhood. They often come at major festival times which are widely known in what is now the post-Christian community of Adelaide.

The festivals of Easter and more so Christmas are so widely celebrated and commercialised that people cannot fail to become aware of them.

Christmas particularly appeals. The lovely gentle story of a woman giving birth in a stable surrounded by animals – shepherds in the fields – wise kings from the east – angels singing in the heavens – guiding stars – what more could we want for the ingredients of a beautiful story - very appealing!

So some people will be intrigued and want to find out a bit more – they gather their courage and come into church.

What is the response from us who own this story that people want to know more of?

In our genteel age of political correctness and fear of litigation it would be most rare to see the reaction that John dished out to the crowd in the story this morning – we don’t turn on these seekers with violent words of abuse – we don’t tell them to – ‘get out and go away as you are not worthy to be here in this church – you are not one of us’!

No - we have a much more subtle approach – we can simply ignore them – treat them with coolness – they are different after all – not one of us.

Or there is another approach – we take them aside and quietly tell them all the problems that our church community is currently struggling with – basically saying in effect – “you won’t want to become involved with all this –the priest is a ratbag – the church council is trying to rebuild the old hall and we don’t have the money – Mrs so and so is nothing but a hypocrite – etc etc.

The crowd berated by John were not to be intimidated however – they were not to be put off. They hung around and in genuine repentance asked what they should be doing. John told them in no uncertain terms.

His answer did not require them to renounce anything in their lives nor to enter into some sort of ascetic lifestyle. They were not asked to undertake a pilgrimage to some shrine nor go to the temple and make expensive sacrifices. No, God’s kingdom was to be available to them there and then – all they needed was to have faith and to understand what was really sacred in life – their relationship with others and with God could be mended.

The answer was all too easy – “share –even if you have little – be fair and honest in all your dealings – don’t use the power given to you to intimidate others for your own advantage – don’t bully!

It did not mean that they had to become heroes – it was something they could do. It was something, when you think about it, that anyone can do. That means it is something that we can do, too.

Does it not concern you that our churches are at best stable in numbers but more likely set on a gentle downward slope? Can we dare ask ourselves the hard questions that are so discomforting?

That is, why have the strangers who have dared to come into our midst not remained to become one of our communities – why is our church not growing? Why have we seen families come and then disappear without word or further comment?

Is it because they could not find God here? We are comfortable in the knowledge that our God is here but is that the God of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth – the all welcoming and all-embracing and loving God we wish we knew better? It’s a good question isn’t it?

I ask you to pray with me that this Christmas season will see our hearts opened to welcome the stranger who comes into our midst.

If you should think about this selfishly – our rewards will be great and our community can only be richly blessed.

The Lord be with you!

Paul's letter to the Christians in Philippi

2009-12-06T17:03:00.006+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD – CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE

2^nd Sunday of Advent 2009

TEXT: Philippians 1: 1-11

This letter of Paul to the little group of radical Jews – read Christians – at Philippi is one of his later communications – possibly written from a prison dungeon in Rome. The Christian community in Philippi was the first one Paul established on European soil.

Philippi is a city in Macedonia and was the main stopover on the main roads between East and West in the Roman Empire.

Paul enjoyed a close and happy relationship with the Christians at Philippi. They had been generous in their monetary contributions towards the cause of the Jerusalem Christians and had been great staunch supporters of Paul and his friend and colleague, Timothy.

Although the Christians were still very much a part of the synagogue – the division was not to come for another twenty years – there was much opposition and antagonism towards the Christian community from within the more orthodox Jewish community.

So the main theme of this letter is persistence and actual joy in faith in the face of opposition.

It’s difficult to cope with opposition. Our ideas and concepts are always right – are they not?

It’s not me who’s got the wrong end of the stick – who is confused and out of step with mainstream thinking and even reality itself – it’s always you!

Of course you think in exactly the same way – It’s me who’s got it all wrong – It’s me who’s too young to know the realities of life – It’s me who fails to show respect for experience.

Does my concept of God vary with yours? Is my theology different from yours? Do you still cling to outdated and discredited ideas because they seem safe?

It’s the place where you feel secure – don’t ask the hard questions – be very wary of anything new – any new experience or way of thinking – be conservative – cling to that which you know and are familiar.

That’s what the Christians of ancient Philippi were up against.

The orthodox Jews felt threatened by these new fangled ideas from country Galilee that Paul and his mates had introduced: this healer and mystical teacher called Jesus of Nazareth who appeared to possess a great charisma and powers of healing and whose teachings were radical – who advocated the inclusion of people other than Jews into the synagogue – people who were neither circumcised nor followed the kosher food rules of the Torah.

How easy it is to transpose those scenes from the ancient world to Adelaide of the twenty first century- especially to the Anglican community of our time and place?

How tolerant are we of new scholarship – new revelations concerning the scriptures and our faith – new thinking which has surfaced in the light of scientific discovery – fresh glimmerings of understanding of the nature and being of that wonderful mystery we call God?

We need to be careful to keep an open mind – certainly to question and probe but to not reject out of hand ideas which seem to ‘rattle our cage’ or ‘shake our tree’ as the sayings go.

We could end up like the orthodox people of Philippi – be left clinging to a legalistic cultural system without love that Jesus changed – from legalism to love!

But we all face opposition of many other sorts today – not idealisms - not theological interpretations (few people would feel threatened by that today! – interested perhaps but not threatened) - Not necessarily even physical threats of violence - but we do all face the unwavering opposition of age and illness.

We all feel the aches and pains – we can’t do what we once did.

Perhaps that’s our challenge of today. How do we cope then? It’s all very well to diagnose the problem but how about some sort of answer?

Let’s go back to our text for today.

Paul speaks of Prayer – how comforting it is to know that others love us and pray for us – that’s real support and strength. That’s what is to be found ( or should be found) in a true Christian community.

He writes in verse 9, “This is my prayer that your love may overflow more and more….”

Love is where we find God – because God is revealed in the love that is shared amongst us through fellowship and prayer for each other.

What a wonderful mystery that is!!

That’s where we discover God according to Paul – “in the love that is shared amongst us”. And when we discover God that is within us we also discover the strength and joy that comes with love and through prayer – even in times of adversity!

Let’s look at verse 7 - “All of you share in God’s grace with me”… it is an interesting use of words in this expression of thanksgiving.

Koinōnia, is translated as "sharing" here.

Translated variously as "fellowship" or "partnership," koinōnia is a word that expresses the essence of Christianity. . It means something held in common, as opposed to something "private".

koinōnia refers to the community and its participants (e.g., the state or the commonwealth).

Greek philosophers used it and related words to refer to the social order. For example, Plato's ideal republic had communal, not private, property.

The book of Acts highlights a similar community ideal when it says the Jerusalem church held "all things in common" (Acts 2:44).

Here in Philippians, Paul's use of koinōnia seems similar to the Greek philosopher, Pythagorus’ idea that friends have all things in common. This is why scholars maintain that friendship is at the heart of this letter.

The church was a community of active participants – it still is, usually.

People come into a Christian community because they feel the need to be involved – to take part in varying ways in the worship of God and to participate in the joy which goes hand in hand with that.

As I said, friendship is at the heart of this letter. The love that is philia is what makes true community (koinōnia) possible. It involves activities that express commonality - thinking and sharing things in common. As described by Paul, friendship is a spiritual matter. I wonder if that is how we view our friendships – as a spiritual part of life.

t infers that we have a friendship which is genuine and not self-seeking – not a place where we can wield power and exert our authority over another – not a place for seeking self advantage.

True friendship can only be a by product of true love. There, as Paul says, lies the secret of true community. One cannot love alone (although some people make a good attempt!).

It is imperative that love is something that can only be shared between people as a couple – a group or as a community. It does not necessarily follow that all within these categories will share exactly the same ideas and concepts and even perhaps – values.

But it is in sharing in the love which brings tolerance that we build a stronger marriage – a stronger community – it is in sharing that we come to know and understand each other better and to know and understand each other is to open the opportunities for love to enter – hence a stronger and more effective and cohesive partnership, marriage or community.

Many scholars identify joy as the main theme of this letter. Joy, here as in all of Paul's writings, comes with the gospel (the ‘Good News” of Christ) through the Holy Spirit.

Real deep down Joy is the result of shared friendship in love – the love which is God in us.

The Lord be with you.

Feast of Christ the King

2009-11-22T10:44:00.000+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LIFE AND LOVE

TEXT: GOSPEL OF JOHN 18:33-37

I know the outside of this church isn’t blue and it doesn’t look anything like an old English police call box but I would like to step into “The Doctor’s” shoes for a few minutes and take us on a little journey back through time.

First, to 1925.

A bloke who called himself Pious XI is pope. He is becoming worried about the state of the European nations and a trend amongst his Catholic flock to thumb their collective noses at him and his church. Europe is still reeling in shock from the fallout of WW1. The treaty of Versailles has done nothing to heal wounds but has exacerbated the misfortunes of the German people. They were defeated and are having their noses well and truly rubbed in the mess. This provides the fertile soil needed for Adolf Hitler to sow his seeds of hatred and genocide. Secularism is on the rise (it’s still rising!!) The allied powers are affluent whilst others are suffering deprivation.

Many Catholic Christians are beginning to have grave doubts about the authority of the church; some people even doubting Christ's existence. It is at this time that history sees the beginnings of the rise in Western Europe of dictatorships which will, in not much more than a decade, bring about the bloodiest world war that history has ever seen.

Hitler has just published the first volume of “Mein Kampf”, In 1921 Mussolini was elected to the Italian parliament and the National Fascist party was officially organized.

The rest is history.

So, during a time when respect for Christ and the Church is waning, the Pope hopes to pull things back together by instituting a new feast within the Roman Church. The Feast of Christ the King as will be celebrated in the twenty-first century in both Roman Catholic and many Protestant churches – including Lutheran and Anglican - is instituted by Pius XI in “this year of 1925”.

So the Feast of Christ the King is instituted. Pius hopes the institution of the feast will have helpful effects. He hopes this will show the world that the church has the right to freedom of worship and interference from secular states. He also hopes to turn these mega-maniac dictators around and show them that they should give allegiance to Christ as King. As for the average person, he hopes they will be reminded to allow Christ to reign as King in their lives.

We observe that nothing much has changed! In 2009, especially in Australia, the same distrust of authority exists. The people of Australia are cynical in the extreme of politicians and authority of any sort.

We have heartily embraced individualism and to such a degree that one’s own self is the only authority recognised. The idea of Christ as ruler is rejected in such a strongly individualistic society. This cynicism and sense of rejection often extends to the church. People question the authority of Priests and Bishops (I must say sometimes with good reasons) whilst some even reject "lord" and "king" for Christ because they believe such titles are borrowed from oppressive systems of government.

Some would say that referring to Christ as “King” smacks of antiquated and conservative thinking.

I disagree! I think that "Christ the King Sunday" has a much better ring to it than "Christ our Democratically Elected Leader Sunday."

That’s 1925 with a few reflections pertinent to 2009!

Now let’s go back to the end of the first century of the Common Era.

Jesus was executed some 70 years ago. Paul, arguably the founder of the Christian church, has been dead for about 35 years. The orthodox Jews have thrown the Christian sect out of the synagogues. The fledgling church is on its own – facing the power of the Roman Empire.

The community of John, probably in Ephesus (now Turkey) has developed theology around the question, “Just who was this man Jesus of Nazareth”?

John’s Gospel clearly presents Jesus as God incarnate - he who existed before the worlds were formed. Here is the ‘Cosmic Christ’. It is easy to see then how John presents Jesus as Lord of lords and King of Kings.

The earliest Christians identified Jesus with the predicted Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish word "messiah," and the Greek word "Christ," both mean "anointed one," and came to refer to the expected king who would deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans.
Christians believe that Jesus is this expected Messiah.

But unlike the messiah most Jews expected, Jesus came to free all people, Jew and non-Jew, and he did not come to free them from the Romans, but from sin and death. He came to show them and us a new way to journey further into the mystery that is God.

Thus the king of the Jews, and of the cosmos, does not rule over a kingdom of this world.

Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he connected his role as king to humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well.

In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death. Christ’s teachings spell out a kingdom of radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness.

When we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose "loving-kindness endures forever."

Christ is the king that gives us true freedom.

Thus we must never forget that Christ radically redefines and transforms the concept of kingship.

Now back to this 21st century!

Many Christians, Catholic and Protestant, celebrate Christ the King Sunday (including Anglicans and Lutherans) in a chaotic and unjust world that seems to scorn any kind of authority.

Can we find in these verses something that relates to the real lives of people alive in our own society today? How does this speak to those who are stressed, lonely, in despair, or in search of some sort of meaning to life?

Many people all around us experience a sense of emptiness and hopelessness. The joy has gone from their lives. Worry over finances, work insecurity and concern for family members who suffer through addictions and mental illnesses take over their lives.

On the other hand we can easily fit into Pilate’s mould – many do!

Affluent and self-satisfied – possessors of great wealth and often considerable power within our own community – we have no time to consider such things as other peoples plight – in other words love - in other words practical Christianity.

Someone commented that you can't talk to Pilate about kings and kingdoms without being heard in terms of borders and armies and power. Jesus says if his was an earthly concept of kingdom, he would have armies like the Romans.

But his is not that sort of kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom is ‘not of this world’. It is for all those who care about truth - Pilate asks, "What's that?”

This is the great paradox of Jesus. This is why many cannot or do not wish to listen to what he has to say. It’s so easy to miss the point! It’s just so simple to listen.

It's easy to see evidence of the temporal world in material greed, in exclusion and falsehood.

As twenty-first-century Christians we face these same struggles.

This may be the ultimate paradox for followers of Christ.

Truth is the Light that brings reconciliation, unity, and life. The kingdom of Truth is witnessed by love, joy, and peace. Caesar's Empire was noted for tyranny, exploitation and death.

Whilst the Church has done things in the name of God that are wrong, and people of all churches have as well, we can rest assured that the King of the Cosmos is just and merciful. The love, justice, and mercy of Christ liberate us from sin and death, and give us the grace to act with love, justice, and mercy ourselves. Thus the reality of Christ as King is neither antiquated nor oppressive, but timeless and liberating.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU!

All Saints Day - Lazarus

2009-11-01T14:00:00.000+10:30

IN THE NAME OF GOD: CREATOR, PAINBEARER AND SPIRIT OF LOVE AND LIFE.
Text: Gospel of John 11: 32 - 44

I firstly want to sincerely thank all of you who have put in so much work and effort during the last few weeks to prepare for yesterday’s amazing service. I also cringe at what I imagine to be the cost in time, sweat and money.

I find it very hard to adequately express my thanks and appreciation. I can only say ‘thank you’ and tell you that the sentiment comes from the deepest depth of my heart. The love that permeates this congregation is very real.

That is as it should be for if we truly seek to know God we will find the love that is indeed God.

This time has been extremely testing both for you all as my community of faith and myself, as I, on one hand struggle to come to terms with Meredith’s loss, and on the other rejoice in the deep joy that has come into my life as I realise that the culmination of many years of study has finally come to fruition as I now will be able to work amongst my community as an ordained minister in the church of Jesus Christ.

I tell you my wish and ambition, working with our priest Tim, and you as the very faithful core remnant of St John’s, is to build up this congregation not only in numbers but also in our impact on our broader hills community. We can only achieve this goal by working together. I earnestly seek your continued support!

I have always been intrigued by the old window on my left which is part of the original 1872 church structure. The simple text “Jesus wept” is in its very simplicity a most powerful statement.

The text is found in our Gospel reading this morning.

Today is All Saints Day.

Today we remember those of our loved ones who have died during the last year and indeed those who, although more distant from our own lives, have influenced us in our life journey. We again remember and give God thanks for the lives and gifts of Stella Fletcher and Meredith Venus from our own congregation and any other of our loved ones who have died during the past twelve months.

We also think back to the so called “Saints of history” who laid the foundations and then built the Christian church of God throughout the world.

I spoke earlier of cost. For many of these saints the cost has been their very life – often taken in shocking and violent ways – and all because they spoke out against injustice and offered an alternative way to that of traditional human violence. They offered, as we do, a gospel of love and the amazing experience of a journey into the spirit of love that we call God.

The violence that was used against the saints of old is still extant in our world.
I would be unable to stand freely before people, as I am today in this church, in many counties of the world and speak of these things without bringing condemnation and life-threatening violence upon both myself and my hearers.

So we can weep with Jesus for those we have lost – it is a most natural thing for a human to do.

Let’s turn again to the text. The Gospel of John was finalised, fixed and edited possibly at Ephesus around the turn of the first century c.e. – some 70 years or two generations of that time after the death of Jesus of Nazareth. The material used points to a setting in the Jewish Diaspora and the wider Greek Hellenistic world of that time.

It’s interesting to discover the background to the name of ‘Lazarus’. It is a Greek adaptation of the Hebrew name “Eleazar” and means “God will help” or “God is my help” or “My God has helped” – very appropriate when one thinks of the setting in this pericope. As an aside there was recognised a St Lazarus in the middle ages who was known as the patron saint of Lepers. Also the village once known as Bethany is now named “el-Azariah” – a corruption of the name “Lazarus”!

“Jesus wept”.

Why did Jesus weep?

Was it because he lamented the death of his friend Lazarus?

That seems most unlikely if we think about it as the Gospel of John sets its whole agenda to portraying Jesus as the LOGOS (the Word) of God – that is, the very manifestation of God in the world – God’s voice if you like.

If that is the case it would be assumed that Jesus was, for the writer of John, all powerful and all –knowing. He would have therefore known that he was able to return Lazarus to life – why then weep in mourning?

The Gospel does tell us that he was “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved”. His very humanity, which was complete and full, brought him into a close empathy with the family and friends who were in such a state of deep and acute mourning. It would be only natural for a sensitive and loving person to feel that grief and to share the experience and trauma the others were going through. I’m sure we have all experienced this transmission of sentiment at some time or another.

But it is suggested that Jesus wept for a totally different reason.

It is clear from the early verses of John 11 that Jesus knows what the power of God can and will do for Lazarus. The confusion of the disciples in that early exchange makes it clear that his disciples do not.

Mary –“If you had been here my brother would not have died”.

The bystanders –“Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”- they were anticipating a rerun of the healing miracles which are portrayed earlier in this gospel. These remarks certainly acknowledge Jesus’ power but only to keep Lazarus from dying.

There is no suggestion that anyone grasped that Jesus as “the resurrection and the life” (as the Gospel writer puts it) had power beyond death.

This failure to (once again) be fully understood (and therefore fully loved and trusted) is the more likely cause of Jesus’ tears – contrary to the popular notion that his tears provide proof of his human grief.

Also we know Jesus is not weeping in grief because the observers think he is weeping for grief and in John’s gospel such observations are almost always wrong. These situations put into the story then provide Jesus the opportunity to reveal to people the deeper truths of his being (Nicodemus being ‘born again’ – the woman at the well and the question she asks, “what is living water”?).

Jesus weeps in frustration because they say to him, “come and see” and lead him to the grave – John’s Jesus already knows!!

The tension builds in the story where we see the frustration building when he is ‘greatly disturbed’, through to Martha the housekeeper unable to imagine anything beyond the fact that there will be a stench of rotting body when they open the tomb.

John has given us a real exhibition of what resurrection and life can accomplish.
It is not hard to imagine the grief we must often bring to God when we too fail dismally to understand the meaning of real love that is being offered to us and thus continue to grope blindly for some sort of meaning in our lives. It is death that threatens our sense of purpose, imagination and value to others and the world. Death is still the enemy to us.

It permanently separates us from those we love.

But we are like Martha and Mary and the onlookers in this story. We, like them, although we have some sort of trust in Jesus, lack the imagination to look beyond the short term.

What are we searching for here – a way to heaven – a life after death – some sort of never ending life?

In this story the writer has Jesus offering Lazarus the opportunity to ‘live again’. What does he do with this opportunity?

He hosts a banquet (chapter 12) with Jesus as the main guest. He becomes a living witness to the life-giving power of God. His sisters serve Jesus in different ways – one with the meal – the other by anointing him with expensive ointment and washing his feet.

Immediately following this service there will be a baptism in this church.

Can I offer the suggestion that baptism contains both ‘Jesus moments’ and ‘Lazarus moments’?

In baptism we are symbolically buried and resurrected with Jesus – our Jesus moment.
We are also untied in order to serve and witness – our Lazarus moment.

The experience of being ordained as Deacon very clearly speaks to me of these things.
It is both a Jesus and a Lazarus moment whereby, having first been raised by God to ordination, I have been untied in order to serve – you as my congregation – and the broader community as my ordination experience is known.

May we all become aware of the ‘Lazarus moment’ when we are “raised” or made aware of God’s presence in our lives and then, having recognised and acknowledged that, to be freed (or untied) from our fears and self-interest – freed to return the love that God offers so freely - and freed to pass that love freely to others.

May we take time this week to reflect on these things.

THE LORD BE WITH YOU